


First time falling in love

by elletromil



Category: Bridget Jones's Diary - All Media Types
Genre: Aro!Jack, Aromantic Character, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8570284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elletromil/pseuds/elletromil
Summary: Because for the first time in his life, Jack Qwant is in love. He’s got people who will always be there for him, people who trust him enough to share with him their most intimate moments.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Regency](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regency/gifts).



> Happy birthday Reg!
> 
> All the hugs and kisses to you <3 I hope you will enjoy this tiny gift :)

As Mark and Bridget dance their first dance at their wedding, Jack comes to a realisation that really shouldn’t make him as surprised as he is.

He’s not in love with Bridget. And he’s not in love with Mark. That’s not the surprising part. Not what leaves him frozen in shock is that while he’s not in love with either of them, he’s very much in love with _them_.

Bridget and Mark. Mark and Bridget. The both of them together.

Oh he can picture himself easily with either Bridget or Mark. With Bridget especially, back when he first learned of her pregnancy and his probable paternity, he had actually entertained the idea quite a lot. He had been willing to build something with her, something for that little being growing up inside her belly. A loving home. They would have make it work between them. Jack had even thought at one point that he could fall in love if only he had a bit more time.

Seeing Mark and Bridget together, after William’s birth, had disabused him of that last notion quickly however.

He enjoys Bridget’s company, enjoys Mark’s, utterly adores seeing them smile and hearing them laugh. He can be depended on, delights in helping them with the baby, giving them a little break when they most need it, but he cannot be that lifelong partner they both want. He can’t entwine his life with another’s like they do with theirs.

There is simply too many part of him he doesn’t wish to share, that he wants to keep his own.

That doesn’t necessarily make him a bad partner, but he knows from experience that the sort of independence that he craves ends up making him look distant and uncaring.

And while he can never see himself living a relationship like Mark and Bridget’s, feels something crawl under his skin at the mere thought of the romantic codependency that is inevitable in any couple, it doesn’t stop him from _caring_. Far from it in fact.

That had been one of the reason behind his horrible lie to Mark, probably the only lie in his life he would ever truly regret and he still cannot believe the other man has forgiven him for it.

He hadn’t really want to hurt him, but he couldn’t stand seeing Bridget’s joy dimming all the time. Yes, she could have made a better job of telling them that she didn’t know who was the father, but she hadn’t done it on purpose. If Mark couldn’t get past his own hurt feelings and offer Bridget the support she needed, he should just go. He hadn’t really thought that Mark would, had instead been hoping it would prompt him into finally talking things through with Bridget, but that hadn’t happened. He had been strangely disappointed, but if the man would give up so easily then maybe it had been for the best.

Of course, he had come to realise that things weren’t that easy and his own situation with Bridget couldn’t compare to the one between her and Mark. Not only that, but Mark and Bridget weren’t him, he couldn’t predict at all how they would react.

Just the fact they ended forgiving him for the lie when they had took great care to impress on him how it was an unforgivable sin to them was the first example of many. It was as if they didn’t share the same basic common sense.

Not that Jack is complaining.

Far from it.

Because while Jack might not really _need_ anyone, he cannot say truthfully that he isn’t happy that Mark and Bridget decided to welcome him into their little family so easily.

There is something incredible in knowing that you get to come back home to the same people whenever you need to be grounded. And that even if you don’t need it, even if you just want to see the people you love, they’ll be there waiting for you.

He can’t do that, not on that level. He’ll drop whatever he’s doing if Bridget or Mark call (and William whenever he’s old enough to use a phone), but he can’t be their port.

Not that they want him to be and since then, he’s been figuring a lot of things about himself.

Like how he’s never been in love and probably won’t ever be.

He’s simply not wired that way.

Had he made that realisation without them in his life, it would probably have caused a crisis of some kind, but he’s finding out that he doesn’t mind that much. Sure, it’s nothing like he imagined it would be when he was younger, but being in love or not, he still got a family of his own.

That’s why it’s so surprising to find out that even if he’s not in love with them individually, he’s in love with what they represent together.

Or well, he thinks he is, he has no true frame of reference for being in love, but if there is anything that should come close to it, that would be it.

The exhilaration whenever he’s with them, the fierce desire to protect them even when he knows they don’t really need him too, the wish he could hold onto them forever and never let go.

If anyone was to tell him this is not love, he would kindly push them in front of a bus and continue as if he heard nothing.

Because for the first time in his life, Jack Qwant is in love. He’s got people who will always be there for him, people who trust him enough to share with him their most intimate moments.

People who will wave him over as they are dancing their first dance as a married couple and force him to dance with each of them afterward.

It wouldn’t hold in court, but he knows what this is.

It’s them staking a claim on him and he can’t say he minds one bit.

He claimed them as his own a long time ago after all.


End file.
